Thanksgiving was a hit! Not only was the meal awesome, but the morale of the entire GSC community was uplifted. All 84 of us came together for dinner at 2pm and ate our hearts out before having to serve the rest of the community for 6 hours straight. Having the early shift in laundry/setup, I repeated this again for my hour break, and when I got off. I'm now 8lbs heavier and happy for it. That night brought the annual Freezing Man which included a costume table, face painting, hula hoops, a Knuk Tats booth, and a dance party. With the giant frozen blue man attached from floor to basket ball net in the big gym, it was the steam release we've needed.
Other than the holiday, this month has been better. Although we lost a steward to injuries, we received two more. Having just one extra body to carry forks or grab the garbage has made all the difference. We're expecting more to arrive in the coming months and hope to not break down as fast as the new ones are showing up.
As for moral I got to do something I wasn't able to last year. The pressure ridges are the ice off of Scott Base that look like frozen waves in the ice. They're formed from the ice shelf’s constant movement against
The tour is lead by a volunteer community leader who walks ahead with an ice ax, sinking it down into the crevasses and cracks to see how wide and deep they go. Once decided weather to large step, run and jump, or turn back, the tour continues past huge blue ice sheets jolting into the air. At certain points Todd, our guide, showed us giant gaps that were only inches apart the week before. With this speed at which the ice changes in mind I automatically wanted to go on the tour the next week just to see. At only 8 people allowed on the tour, however, the chance probably won't happen as the signup sheet is booked.
One of the coolest parts of the hike was going past an area soft enough for seals to use as breathing holes. Not only were there two chilling on the ice soaking up rays, but when we were still and silent, we could hear the deep breaths of seals under the ice popping into the holes to catch a breath or two before going back down. It was really awesome to be so close to them, yet creepy to think that the ice 20 feet away was shallow enough to break through over the water.
Along with the seals starting to show up more, the skuas are back and more aggressive than ever. They are dive-bombing people this year for no reason at all. Instead of just not taking food out or wearing the color blue our food trays are, the idea this year is just to look as big as possible. Still they dive and still we look out of the galley windows and laugh at the poor people not fast enough to get away. Yet we get ours. There was one that snuck into the food waste bin and then got stuck. One of our people went to dump a bag in and when he opened it was just as surprised as the big creepy bird was to see something looking back.
The next month is looking up. Christmas, Ice Stock, an End of the World Party, and a 3yr birthday for a waterless urinal in the coffee house. As changing includes fermented urine solids that resemble creamed corn and cottage cheese, and smell like (no words), this is an occasion to celebrate.
Till next time,
Chris
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